Series: Fever Falls Series by Riley Hart
Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 96260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
“When you say, ‘Do the things boyfriends do,’ you mean like everything?”
His eyes widened, and he threw his hands before him. “No, no, no. Like, pretend things.”
“Oh.” My tone was laced with disappointment, and he seemed to catch on, his eyebrows pulling together in surprise.
“Not that I don’t think you are a very attractive man, which you are, but this would be more of a publicity stunt that I would be asking you to agree to help me with.”
“Publicity stunt.”
It reminded me of when my bro, Jace, and his boyfriend first got together. Jace had been such an Internet sensation due to a photo of him that had gone viral, and Dax wound up getting roped into the whole thing as soon as they started messing around.
“So I would have to do, like, interviews, talk shows, and magazine stuff?”
“Yes, you’d have to do all that, as my boyfriend. But even just being seen together would be good.”
“Basically the Meghan Markle of Parlaisa?”
He closed his eyes and nodded, as though embarrassed to admit it. “Obviously, the early Duchess of Sussex, before she and Harry wed, but fair enough.”
I considered what he was suggesting. “I have school in a few weeks. I have to go back for—”
“That’s fine. I could come to you. If anything, it will make it more difficult for the press to get to you while we’re getting our stories straight. You said you live where—this Fever Falls place?”
“You’d come to Fever Falls?”
“Of course. I travel all over the world. Why wouldn’t I come there?”
I chuckled at the thought of bringing a prince back home with me. Oh, the shit I got myself into. “But just pretending. We’re not actually doing anything else?”
“No, and we couldn’t do anything else, to be clear.” He said that very sternly. “I do think you’re very attractive, but I wouldn’t want to do anything that could jeopardize this far more important cause. It would be a job. I would compensate you for your time. Say, fifteen thousand dollars.”
“Fifteen thousand dollars?” I said, unable to disguise my excitement.
“I guess that was an easy negotiation.” He winked. “But again, that would be to keep it a business deal. If there’s some sort of petty squabble or any sort of strife, that could potentially ruin everything we’re fighting for. We have to do this without any sort of attachment, outside of this agreement.”
“Yeah, I get that. I know a lot of friends who, if they’ve been dating and work together, that’s been pretty hard on them. So…like no messing around…at all?”
“At all.”
Seemed unfair to have a boyfriend that I couldn’t even have sex with, especially one who was as gorgeous as this guy, and who, based on our encounter at the bar, wanted to have sex with me as much as I wanted to have sex with him.
I sighed.
“So what do you say?” Owen asked. “Will you be my fake boyfriend?”
I laughed. “Hold up, I just have to get through the absurdity of it all.”
“I can give you time to think on it.”
“No, I don’t have to think about it. I can see it’s a good cause. I definitely want to help. And I’ll be honest, the money wouldn’t hurt so much right now. I am a starving college kid.”
“Well, I’m happy to feed you.”
My gaze shifted right to his crotch, and he seemed to notice.
“Disregard that last statement,” he blurted out.
“Stricken from the record,” I teased, but in the back of my mind, all I was thinking was, What in the flying fuck have I gotten myself into?
8
Owen
I perused Keeg’s Facebook profile.
My new American tourist partner in crime had to return to his friends back at his two-star hotel in town, leaving me to finish working on details surrounding our new scheme, which fortunately for me, Keegan had agreed to.
The knock at my door didn’t faze me. “Come in!”
I heard it open and shut before Frederick said, “You sure have found the perfect way to piss your brother off, haven’t you?”
I’d texted Frederick to meet me in my room so we could finish sorting through the clusterfuck I’d gotten myself into.
“Won’t be the first time I brought shame to the Crown, nor the last,” I added.
He laughed as he slouched down in the chair beside me at my desk, one I had ready and waiting for him.
He sighed as he looked at the picture of Keegan with his friends. “So this is your new boyfriend,” he said, running his hands over his face and taking a deep breath.
“Yeah, I hope you’re able to digest that pretty quickly, considering we have a lot of work to do. I went ahead and sent Keeg a copy of the royal NDA to get his buddies to sign so he can tell them what’s going on.”
“He’s telling his friends?” Frederick asked. “Surely, you didn’t agree to that.”